Overview

"I'm a thrill-seeker. I want to travel around the world and get wrapped up in as many crazy adventures as I can. And if I help people along the way, then that's even better. It's a win-win, y'know?"

Backstory

Playstyle

Strengths/Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

One of the few characters that have Shoto-type (projectile, rush attack, etc) tool kit.

Semblance buff not only increases attack, but also enhances some of her moves’ damage properties to extend combos.

Great Invulnerability of Burning Gold, on par with Azrael’s Black Hawk Stinger.

High mobility relative to her health.

Semblance buff can only be activated when Yang is in a "danger" state.

When not empowered, most of her powerful combos can only be done in the corner.

Heavily meter reliant in both states.

Normals have short range.

Semblance: Rage

In RWBY, Yang's Semblance allows her to tank the damage she receives and then use it to amplify the effectiveness of her attacks. This alone is fairly powerful, however once she has taken enough damage she enters a empowered state, marked by literal flames in her hair. In this empowered state, she becomes incredibly fast, and powerful. It is likened by her father, Taiyang, to a temper tantrum. Though it may be similar to a childish tantrum, the effectiveness of her Semblance is not to be underestimated as she has used it to take down significantly larger and more powerful foes, such as RWBY-universe top of the line piloted mecha.

Her Semblance makes an appearance in Cross Tag Battle as a passive trait. When her health drops to the "Danger!!" point, she enters her empowered state, complete with flaming hair. In this state, her punches do additional hits and her Skills are powered up.

Normal Moves

5A

While in Semblance, gains an extra gunshot hitbox, greatly increasing its range.

Outside of Semblance, 5A has very limited horizontal range, requiring Yang to nearly be point-blank to connect. If it does connect however, her 5A followups move her forward so she doesn't have to worry about whiffing them. As 5A and 5AA are both jump-cancelable on block, there is a choice of resetting or going into other gatling options.

While in Semblance, her 5A range is much more respectable, making it a viable, fast poke to use alongside 5B.

5AA

1500, 750 (Hit 2, Semblance Only)

All

8

-

-

-4

Jump-cancelable

While in Semblance, gains an extra gunshot hitbox, ensuring it combos properly from a max range 5A.

Can be canceled into 2A and then back into 5A and its followups if within range, even when 2A is used to start. This greatly extends the length of Yang's pressure without assists, making her pressure strings less predictably short.

5B

While in Semblance, gains an extra gunshot hitbox, making it Yang's longest ranged normal poke. Reaching even further than her 2C.

Due to Yang's limited normal ranges, throwing 5B out in neutral for both offensive and defensive reasons can be a strong option, as it can apply pressure if close enough as well as eat through body-attribute attacks that have longer ranges than hers. The armor on 5B only applies to body-attribute attacks however, so it's ineffective against most of the lows and overheads in the game.

Yang's main options from 5B when connecting with the opponent are essentially 5BB, 2C, 214A, 214B, 236X, and jump-cancel, making it a key branching point for a lot of her offense.

Since the vast majority of the Reversal Actions in the game have body-attribute, Yang has the potential to safely plow through such reversal options. However, as the armor on 5B does not come out frame 1 and the startup and active frames of Reversal Actions generally come fairly late, 5B cannot be used as a meaty when attempting to beat Reversal Actions, nor to directly challenge them. A certain delayed timing is thus required to manage Reversal Actions after knockdown, but with this delayed timing the opponent has the potential to counterhit or throw Yang before 5B can come out.

5B has the potential to armor through various Distortion Skills, but this is much more limited. Certain Distortion Skills, such as Gordeau's 236BC, have enough startup after the superflash that Yang can 5B on reaction. However, the faster startup of most body-attribute Distortion Skills do not offer Yang this luxury. As a result, unless 5B was already started before a Distortion Skill, which is essentially uncontrollable, it is not very likely to go through one.

5BB

1700, 850 (Hit 2, Semblance Only)

All

11

-

-

-11

Has armor against body attribute attacks during the middle portion of the move

Launches opponents, allowing you to transition into an air combo.

Less horizontal range than 5B, so will whiff when chained from a max range 5B.

Unsafe if whiffed or not canceled.

While in Semblance, gains an additional hit. Does not gain any additional horizontal range, so it still does not combo properly from a max range 5B.

Mostly combo and potentially pressure filler. Because of Yang's average run speed and general lacking range, she will often whiff 5BB at 5B's max-range leaving her open to being punished. As a result, caution must be exercised with 5BB, making sure to both cancel into it at appropriate ranges, and cancel out of it if blocked.

2A

Considering Yang's other normal options, this and 5B are likely to be her go-to normals when trying to approach. Due to 5A's lacking horizontal range, 2A should be given priority if a relatively fast, decently ranged normal is desired.

Canceling into 5B when not point-blank is generally a good idea since 5A is stubby and 2C leaves little room to continue pressure. This is particularly strong against opponents that disrespect 2A's range or cannot react with appropriate lows.

If within range, 2A can be canceled into 5AA, which allows her to cancel back into 2A and then another 5A cancel, allowing her to greatly extend her normally relatively short pressure. While making her pressure less predictable, this does require being within range for 5A in the first place, so being mindful of ranges is necessary when not in Semblance.

A fairly good antiair that propels Yang into the air, requiring either a double jump or j.236X to cancel out of it. If blocked and able to react well, pressure can continue after the double jump with her various air options.

Can be used in pressure, though as it has limited horizontal range, Yang has to be careful that it does not whiff as she is then unable to cancel out of its long recovery.

j.A

A very useful, well-ranged normal that, while not terribly fast and not able to hit crouching opponents immediately after an IAD, does provide a general use aerial that can easily poke the opponent.

As j.A's hitbox hits slightly behind her and she reliably autocorrects after her forward jump-cancels when done close, she can naturally crossup if positioning is good or safely reset pressure if the opponent does not anticipate it.

j.A

While in Semblance, gains an extra gunshot hitbox, increasing its vertical and horizontal range.

Mostly functionally the same as j.A, except slightly slower and with a slightly better downwards hitbox. Even though the downwards hitbox is better, an immediate j.B after an IAD will whiff on crouching opponents, making a delay required.

When in Semblance, j.B's downward hitbox does increase, which allows immediate j.B after IAD to hit crouching opponents. Hooray!

j.BB

1500, 750 (Hit 2, Semblance Only)

High

7

-

-

-

Short horizontal and vertical hitbox.

While in Semblance, gains an additional hit.

While its hitbox is fairly lacking, it does its job as a quick aerial to follow j.B with. This mostly comes into play canceling into it off of IAD j.B, as j.A's slightly higher startup causes it to not come out if the j.B is slightly delayed and generally requires more immediate timing.

It can be okay as air blockstring filler, but j.A can then be gone into instead, and j.A's hitbox is simply better. As a result, there's not much reason for this outside of fairly niche cases or combo filler.

While its damage is essentially the same as other air combo options, because both j.B and j.BB utilize Yang's gauntlet, both hits benefit from Semblance's damage boost. Assuming the faster startup and better hitbox of j.A is not needed, j.BB then becomes optimal when taking to the air.

Mostly used as a combo ender. Can also be used as surprise yolo instant overhead or a crossup.

If used at the end of combos, your opponent is usually able to freely forward roll past Yang. Thus, careful movement needs to be used to ensure you don't let your opponent escape the corner for free. If desired for pressure, an assist is recommended as this normal is very unsafe on block. Since she can simply continue pressure off other falling aerials without committing assist bar however, this may not be an efficient option to go for if the setup from the assist is not seriously desired.

If done immediately after a jump, j.C is notably Yang's fastest overhead. Similar to pressure situations, calling an assist will allow Yang to combo after a successful hit, and keep her safe in case the j.C is blocked.

On defense, the normal is also decent enough to Fuzzy j.C with (17BC1) to steal your turn, granted you get a good read on when there's a gap in your opponent's pressure/your opponent will try to grab you.

While slightly minus, it's a fairly good tool for resetting pressure as its pushback, combined with that of preceding normals, makes it hard for opponents to take their turn with quick normals.

A fairly good option after using 236A to reset pressure is to immediately go into 5B. As most 5As and 2As are too short to reach her, 5B has enough time to obtain its body-invuln for longer-reaching, slower normals. Wise opponents watching out for 236A reset can beat out the 5B easily with just about any 2C however.

If Reject Guarded, it will not reach the opponent due to the greatly increased distance. Its lingering hitbox can catch opponents attempting to move forward after, but this still leaves a large gap that can be punished by Distortion Skills and other options.

B

1500 (Projectile), 1700 (Explosion)

All

16

-

-

-6

Relatively long range and arc

Explodes upon hitting the ground, leaving a lingering hitbox.

If 236X is desired for zoning on the ground, 236B is practically better than 236A in every way as its arc extends 2/3 the screen horizontally. It's slightly more negative than 236A on block so should be exclusively for zoning.

Great zoning tool that singlehandedly provides Yang some good fullscreen presence as the projectiles come out fast and can cover space quickly.

Steeper angle and travels slightly slower than j.236B though the space it covers can be increased by performing it higher. With this angle, switching to it is important when expecting opponents to try to rush in as whiffing j.236B instead leaves her open to being anti-aired as she cannot act until she becomes grounded.

B

1500 (Projectile), 1700 (Explosion)

All

11

-

-

-

66 degree angle projectile

Travels 2/3 to over fullscreen

Explodes upon hitting the ground, leaving a lingering hitbox.

Faster than j.236A

Great zoning tool that singlehandedly provides Yang some good fullscreen presence as the projectiles come out fast and can cover space quickly.

Wider angle and travels slightly faster than j.236A though the space it covers can be increased by performing it higher.

While it can easily cover fullscreen, contesting zoners can be difficult as the travel time allows them to hit her before the rocket can reach. Further, the rocket has only 1 durability so it easily loses to many projectiles or the ability to cancel into further projectiles.

Especially strong against characters with tall vertical hitboxes that cannot avoid projectiles easily or lack fullscreen presence, such as Gordeau or Waldstein.

Due to the inability to act until grounded, it is risky to throw out against characters with fast, fullscreen supers, especially if trying to jump higher to obtain more reach.

Burst of Embers

Used for closing the gap in neutral, keeping up pressure against Reject Guards, and in combos.

Has armor against body attribute attacks.

+6 on Counter Hit. Can link into 5A in these situations.

Burst of Embers is useful neutral and pressure tool. Yang gains armor against body attribute attacks once she gets moving, giving her a valuable tool to approach her opponent in certain situations, especially when covered by an assist call. If cancelled into from a blocked normal, Burst of Embers can function as a simple frame trap that also helps counter predictable Reject Guards. On counter hit, Burst of Embers is +6, allowing you to convert into a heavily scaled combo by linking into 5A. Burst of Embers is -1 on regular hit and -4 on block, so you give up any further pressure in most cases unless you perform one of its followups or you're covered by an assist call. Since Burst of Embers does not have armor against foot or head attribute attacks, it should also not be thrown out haphazardly or during situations where you could easily be hit during the startup.

A somewhat useful option if the opponent is trained to block due to staggered 214AA but if not the opponent is likely to just mash Yang out of it if not backed with assists. Yet, if an assist is used to cover 214AB, the assist will not be available to followup after it.

As Yang does not have a low followup from 214A, outside of resetting into 2A or 2C, a wise opponent will simply autopilot into high block. Since 214A is minus, even if the low reset is desired, an opponent that isn't specifically trained to avoid mashing has a good bit of time to challenge the reset, making the high/low mixup from this point fairly underwhelming.

Perfect Bombshell

A fairly important tool for obtaining good solo damage. While it is a command grab, it whiffs on crouching opponents so it is questionable to use it as one unless confirming a standing opponent, or somehow training them to stand expecting something in particular.

Can be used to grab airborne opponents in combos, though this requires both a relatively high amount of hitstun as well as low air height. This is generally preceded by 5BB or 2C, but can also occur from a variety of assists.

In the corner, 5BB > 214C can be looped into itself multiple times depending on proration, allowing for very damaging solo routes.

With its invulnerability and extreme speed, Burning Gold is a very threatening option open to wary players. So long as the opponent isn't grounded or not too high in the air, it can be used before and after most distortions and come out on top.

Similarly, it can even be used on reaction to punish high recovery projectiles such as Vatista's and Naoto's 236A even after blockstun, but the timing for this is strict and not for the faint of heart. Conversely, it also works well against high startup projectiles such as Jin's 236B or Vatista's 214C/j.214C, though with good reactions even faster projectiles can be punished. Certain options like Aigis's 236X which inflict a high amount of blockstun and have low recovery after can be punished by canceling blockstun with Reject Guard.

When being pressured, Reject Guard into Burning Gold can be a costly though highly rewarding and threatening option. It forces the opponent to stray away from predictable and/or high recovery pressure options which for most characters tends to be their 5AAA and/or 5BB. While this is less effective against players/characters that do not commit to such options, against those that do it is a serious threat that the opponent must learn to respect. Wary opponents may stagger their pressure with normals that have low recovery and blockstun to both avoid Reject Guard as well as large gaps that can be punished by Reject Guard.

Being wary of when Yang enters Semblance is very important since it provides a brief pause to examine the opponent as soon as she is grounded and in neutral. If the opponent commits to either a high startup or high recovery option, the pause Semblance offers provides enough time to safely "punish" with Burning Gold or Reversal Action, since both are frame 1 invuln and quickly active. While the timing is relatively strict since poor timing will have Yang stuffed by an opponent's active frames, getting it down and recognizing when the opponent has committed too hard is important for punishing opponents that do not respect Semblance's activation.

For all Burning Gold's strengths, it is not entirely better than Unrelenting Fire. First, its invuln can lose to distortions and Reversal Actions with higher invuln. Second, it does leave Yang point-blank to the opponent when blocked, so if Yang's partner is available, be prepared to Distortion Skill Duo or Cross Burst (and avoid predictable timing) if using it riskily.

A super primarily used to end combos. While it has a lot of armor, be extremely careful about using Unrelenting Fire as a reversal, as you can get thrown out of it fairly easily. Many normals can be canceled into a throw as soon as you armor through them. This is especially easy to do on reaction because of the superflash. Thus, Burning Gold's invincibility and much faster startup makes it the preferred super in most reversal situations.